What did you do this past week?

Schoolwork was my main focus last week. My group for this class brainstormed ideas for our web application and submitted our project proposal, which was thankfully approved by Professor Downing. I’ve also been reviewing problem sets and lecture notes for my Algorithms exam on Monday. It’s easily my most difficult class this semester, so I’m been devoting a lot of time to it.

What’s in your way?

Nothing much is in my way this week. Once I get my Algorithms exam out of the way, my next exam is the exam for this class. It’s not until the middle of March, which means that I’ll have plenty of time to review the in-class HackerRank exercises as well as all of the readings and attendance quizzes.

What will you do next week?

For this class, I’ll work with my group on the rest of the Project 1 requirements for our web application. I also have to attend the Atlassian talk that Professor Downing assigned on Monday evening. As always, I’ll go to class and try to attend a MAD workshop on Tuesday.

What did you think of the talk by Ed on GCP and Hannah on AWS?

Both talks provided a good overview of the features of each service as well as helpful guidance on how to use them. Ultimately, my group decided to use Amazon Web Services since it seems like a valuable skill to learn and one of my group members has experience with it.

What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?

The base.cs blog series has articles on the fundamentals of data structures and algorithms tailored to those new to computer science. They typically feature simple explanations and a lot of helpful illustrations. I use them as a way to review parts of computer science that I haven’t seen for a while. In particular, I enjoyed the articles on the quicksort and depth-first search algorithms. There is also a corresponding podcast based on the blog series if you prefer to listen to explanations for each algorithm/data structure while looking up how to implement it through programming.

What did you do this past week?

This week, I finished the Collatz project for this class. I submitted a few job applications and turned in an assignment for my Declarative Programming class. I also worked on a problem set for my Algorithms class. In short, it was a pretty typical week in terms of homework.

What’s in your way?

I’m feeling a little stressed out with midterms approaching. The semester was off to a slow start but now it feels like it’s going by quickly. We’re already in the middle of February, and Spring Break is only three weeks away. I want to slow the pace a little bit so that I have more time to finalize some plans for the summer and fall.

What will you do next week?

Study! I have a midterm for my Declarative Programming class next Wednesday. I also have to start preparing for my Algorithms & Complexity exam the following Monday. I also want to go to the UT Programming Competition on Friday. I’m curious about the types of problems competitive programming involves, and I want to try it at least once. In addition, I want to stop by MAD’s Web Development workshop on Tuesday since I missed last week’s meeting.

What was your experience of Project #1 (the problem, the overkill requirements of submission, etc.)?

Project 1 was a good introduction to the concepts of continuous integration, acceptance and unit testing, and all of the workflow requirements. At first, I was daunted by all of the project guidelines and found it hard to find a natural “flow” while working on the assignment. However, I grew more comfortable with the requirements as I made progress on HackerRank and went to office hours for issues with my GitLab pipeline.

What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?

SQL Zoo is a good resource for learning and practicing SQL queries. It offers tutorials on basic SQL concepts and has multiple quizzes that test your understanding of commands. It’s a good way to spend an afternoon if you have no prior experience with SQL and are interested in learning more about it.

What did you do this past week?

Last week, I worked on the Collatz project and went to office hours when my GitLab CI unexpectedly failed to build. I also spent a lot of time on a difficult problem set for my Algorithms class and hope to start earlier on the next one. For my other classes, I studied for a couple of in-class quizzes and finished a few assignments. Aside from schoolwork, I went to the Lunar New Year event on campus and had a good time.

What’s in your way?

I’m feeling better after having a cold last week, so that’s no longer in my way. I’m feeling optimistic about my progress on the Collatz project overall, but I know that the test cases will take some time to finish and hope to start writing them as soon as possible.

What will you do next week?

I definitely plan to start building test cases and formatting my code for the Collatz project. I also have to finish several readings and continue reviewing my notes and looking over exercises to prepare for quizzes in each of my classes. Aside from that, I hope to attend another MAD workshop this week. I would like to learn more about web development so that I can be more prepared for the upcoming projects in this class.

What was your experience of learning the basics of Python?

Professor Downing’s lectures are helpful in learning the basic data structures and syntax of Python. However, they are very detail-oriented, and there are some subtleties regarding types and pointers that I will have to commit to memory. For example, the fact that you can assign a pointer to any iterable structure to a list’s ‘+=’ operator but cannot do the same to a tuple is a small but significant distinction between the data types.

What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?

This week, I discovered a helpful resource called DevDocs through the MAD Web Development workshop. It consolidates documentation for many different web development languages, such as Python, Ruby, and Rust, into one compact and easily accessible reference website.

What did you do this past week?

I started the Collatz assignment for this class, and I’m making progress on it. For other classes, I finished some readings and started studying for in-class quizzes. I signed up to see a jazz concert for my Jazz Appreciation class, and I’m looking forward to it. To stay organized for the semester, I created a calendar for all office hour times, so I don’t have to keep referring to each class’s syllabus. I also purchased all the textbooks I needed.

What’s in your way?

I caught a cold last week, and I’m still feeling a little under the weather. Being sick has taken a toll on my energy level for the past few days. Hopefully, I’ll feel better soon.

What will you do next week?

For the Collatz project, I need to continue optimizing my solution and documenting my progress. I think writing the test cases will take up a large chunk of time, so I should plan accordingly and allot a couple of days for that next week. Aside from that, I have to review my notes and look over assignments for my other classes. I’m also planning to go to the iOS workshop on Tuesday with Professor Bulko as well as the Engineering EXPO on Thursday. To prepare for EXPO, I’ll print out some copies of my resume.

What’s your experience of the in-class exercises?

I haven’t done much programming in Python, so the exercises help with reinforcing new concepts. They are also a good way of interacting with the class material so that I can remember it. I’m definitely going to use them as a resource when preparing for the midterm in March.

What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?

The Mozilla Developer Network (MDN) offers great web development tutorials for HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (including client-side APIs). This article in particular provides a simple overview of what happens when we view a webpage in a browser. MDN also has articles on developer tools such as the web console, page inspector, and network monitor. These tutorials are good for beginners as well as more advanced learners.

What did you do this past week?

I’ve been getting ready for the upcoming semester. I finalized my class schedule and have been submitting applications on Hire a Longhorn in search of a part-time job on campus. I’m trying to stay organized before deadlines start approaching. In terms of fun, I saw “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” on Friday night and really enjoyed it.

What’s in your way?

Nothing so far. I am slightly apprehensive about the cold calling in Professor Downing’s class, but I figure it increases student engagement during class and forces me out of my comfort zone.

What will you do next week?

Read! I have a lot of readings due for my classes that I have to finish this week, including the articles on the schedule for this class. Other than that, I have to start on the first project for this class if it is assigned this week and finish a problem set for my Algorithms & Complexity class. Aside from schoolwork, I plan to submit more internship applications for this summer and continue looking for a job for this semester.

What are your expectations of the class?

I would like to learn more about web development and become more comfortable with programming in Python. Web development is a critical part of software engineering that I have only explored superficially so far. The prospect of creating a fully-functional website from scratch in the space of a few weeks is exciting. I also hope to meet more people through the projects since I only know a couple of people in the class.

What’s your pick-of-the-week or tip-of-the-week?

If you’re interested in participating in academic research this summer, you should check out the Pathways to Science website for summer research opportunities. It lists programs at different universities across the United States that are open to undergraduate and graduate students. Many of these programs are looking for students outside of the universities where the programs are based. There are many opportunities for students specializing in computer science! You can filter the listings by field of research and deadline date to find one that matches your needs.